To Age Well, Respect Matters: Attitudes Matter For Grey Matters.

Avó commandeered the room with her presence, internal power and position within the community. She wasn't an overly “successful woman” by populist terms but she was wise and life deep with experience.

To me she was the most successful person I ever met.

You see she raised over a 1000 children, shepherd hundreds of elderly people into the later years of their life and built new community economies to fight poverty.

In 1994, I found myself jettisoned into a world that was so unfamiliar, challenging and life altering to me as a young man. It's not entirely surprising to see its echoes still reach through time today. The Orphanage Of Mamae Clory ( O Lar Da Mamae Clory), established a vital haven and family for those most in need of it and was a ladder away from poverty and trauma.

Avó, is Portuguese for “Grandmother”, and she was the leader of a community of over 200 children when I first came to Brasil. There was so much power and potential in her in her 7th plus decade of life and with that was a community wide heartfelt respect. From the corridors of power in S?o Paulo to the favelas ( shanty towns) around the corner, there was a collective feeling of deep admiration for her abilities, qualities, and achievements.

There was Respect.

I often amazed at her power engine and force to get the work done. She would reply to my Aussie ignorant questions with a Yoda like quality “ My son, it is the work which gives me greatest pleasure as it is also of a great purpose. How can I stand by and let this suffering persist without taking action?” ( Sadly, hand gestures don't translate very well)

Purpose and Meaning

I am well aware of the role of meaningful occupations and roles have, especially as we enter into the era of the Memory Economy.

And so I read this article today by Orb Media, which highlights the importance of

• Perception of self as you age and
• Respect and its association with health and well-being.

It’s been well documented before in other papers “individuals with a positive attitude towards old age are likely to live longer and in better health than those with a negative attitude” the article further states “those with a negative view of aging are more likely to suffer a heart attack, a stroke or die several years sooner.”

But, what the team at Orb Media explored further is the relationship of ageing and respect.

And this is what they found.

Older people in countries with low levels of respect for the elderly are at risk for worse mental and physical health and higher levels of poverty.

The alarm bell is well and truly rung in this article as they point out globally, by 2050 nearly one out of six people will be over 65, and close to half a billion will be older than 80.

I had the pleasure to speak at the @Leading Age Services Australia (LASA's) National Integrated Seniors Housing Conference 2018 conference last week and I highlighted we're at a new frontier. No less than a hundred years ago the average life expectancy was 58 years, now it is approaching 90 years.

“It’s humanity’s biggest achievement of the last century.” according to Marília Viana Berzins, a Brazilian social worker.

There is so much more to do.

I had the chance to work with Val French and her team at Older People Speak Out many years ago. She and her not for profit team ran the national media awards to celebrate positive views of ageing and to tackle age discrimination and bias which ran through the Australian community.

Such action is still needed as the Orb article reports

• 60 percent of people surveyed across 57 countries reported low levels of respect for older people.
• Elderly are often viewed as less competent and less able than younger people. They are considered a burden on society and their families, rather than being recognized for their valuable knowledge, wisdom and experience
• Globally, age discrimination is more common than sexism and racism

Orb Media compiled data from 150,000 people in 101 countries to learn about their levels of respect for older people.

• Pakistan was among the countries that scored the highest.

Becca Levy, a professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health has investigated age stereotypes extensively. She has long suspected and validated the view

“If older people are respected in society, perhaps that improves their self-image. That may in turn actually influence their physiology and that may influence their health,”

Not surprisingly, the article reports the power of age stereotypes is even evident deep in human biology and sites the role of respect, self perception and ageing and stress as a triad of factors impacting health and well-being.

Keep Mixing It Up

In the orphanage there were hundreds of kids from newborns to teens and about 50 elderly folk. Living in coexistence, as family and friend. This appeared to support the needs of each other at both ends of life's developmental spectrum.

The Orb Media article echoes the importance of this, of integration of the community, of mixing it up.

“Increasing meaningful contact between younger and older people can break down negative stereotypes”

No doubt if you take the time to read this article you’ll get a good Brasilian, view on this experience as well as others. And I encourage you to read it.

A big congratulations to the team at Orb Media for a good article. You can read it in full here: Attitudes Matter In A Graying World

David

P.S. David it’s Brazil not Brasil, what the? Sorry, old habits die hard.

P.P.S. On a mission to reduce avoidable memory loss in adult Australians. It's clear, purpose, meaning and respect are one lever to be pulling on to make this a reality. I'd love for you to join me. How are you applying this in your work?